The beauty in the trash

Trash beach! Yes, its the Arnala beach, few kms from Virar station. It was horrible to walk through the messy environment. It is sad to know that the beaches of Maharashtra and especially Mumbai have been ignored, not maintained and never promoted when it has such a big potential for tourism.


Keeping the trash aside, my day was magical. The first part of the magic was reaching the beach and watching the buzzing fishing community on it. It was obvious that the men will be responsible for fetching the fish, un-meshing the net, boat maintenance and any other activities that require immense physical strength. The ladies would be responsible to gather the fish, sort them out into prawns, prom-fret, crabs etc. Also, they would be responsible to distribute it into appropriate baskets and carry them all the way into city markets for the eventual sale. No broker is involved and the fishing community works together and runs it like a family business. The children look very happy playing marbles, digging sand and playing all kinds of lovely games that my generation played.

The second part of the journey was getting into a small ferry boat which would take us from the beach to the island that was 5-10 mins away. The team had to wet themselves, squeak few 'eeks' while walking through the dirty water and eventually board the boat. If we miss the boat, then the next one would take around 20-30 mins to return back. Hence people were rushing into it in great hurry. The boat was crowded with all fish filled baskets and shy fisher women while me and my team were standing squeezed in center of the boat without any support. Every time the boat tossed, my team tossed over each other too. I was just feeling like a little child who is thrown in the air by his dad for fun. I loved whenever the waters played this mischief with the boat. 

The island was where Arnala fort was. One of the reason why forts were built on islands was because it would be difficult for the enemies to reach through the waters or even fire their cannons from the distant land. The small fort was probably 100 * 100 square meters. It was surprising to see a mosque and a temple within this small enclosure. Our lunch spot was in the temple's verandah. It had an absolute refreshing soothing breeze. Whereas many were aggressively playing 'Mafia' after lunch, I simply chose to explore the fort all by myself. The fort had few trees, unnecessary bushes and little plow fields. I was fortunate to find some beautiful flowers and I wondered what is this beauty doing amidst the thrash bushes. 

The third part of the journey was returning back to the beach in the evening around 4 pm. Since it was Sunday, there were lots of local visitors. Between 4 pm and 6 pm, I chose to walk around the beach as it was constantly changing its beauty during the sunset. While the sun was singing to the beach and the sky, the people and the children were riding horses, camels, huge bikes and so on. The beach was buzzing all around with play, cheer, laughter and calmness. These two hours on the beach was an healing experience. Arnala beach was looking like gold in the evening and I wondered if it's the same dirty place that I saw earlier in the day. I was very sure that particular moment that Mumbai is losing this beauty to the thrash. As one of my friends tells looking at the mess humans create 'I am ashamed to be a human being'

How often do we feel that we are are in a trash situation but Arnala beach teaches you that no matter what, I will shine like pure gold each and every day thereby making everyone happy and fore mostly I will be happy with myself  for I believe I am the beauty in the thrash.

Sewri Flames

When I was small, Sewri sounded like a very dangerous place, somewhere very far. Little did I know that I would step in to encounter its flames one day. I reached the spot at around 7.30 am and there I saw the Sewri mudflats filled with hundreds of tiny flames. They did not look large to me or at least the way it is projected in many closeup photos. They had long thin legs, body weight probably in few kgs and a beak. In fact, all birds visiting the mudflats had one common thing, a long beak. I came to know an amazing fact that the flames get their pink patches from eating algae.The flames come from Kutch every year to Sewri mudflats. At times, they dig in their beak right till the point where their eye just meets the ground.

There were many other birds who would not stand still for my camera. And I was losing patience that bird photography was not coming easy. While my camera was trying to chase them, they were all busy doing one thing. Dig in the mud.

These birds probably will stop visiting the city of Bollywood because of the Nhava Sheva sea link. These birds unfortunately have not moved ahead in their lifestyle, into the times of modern world of smartphones. They do the same thing year after year for decades. Dig in the mud.

Another interesting point that someone shared with me was the way some of these birds fly in a triangular arrangement. Why triangle? It's because, the force with which first bird at the top corner of the triangle flaps it's wing helps the bird behind to flap less. The force keeps building from the top of the triangle to the base of the triangle.

By 9.30 am, the birds seem to have gone more further away, as soon as the junk ships by the shore started their engines. These ships looked like slum huts with all the necessary amenities in it. On one of the smaller boat, I saw an AC mount, then on another ship I saw a big powerful engine bolted to power the palatial hut. Little did I realize, men live in there. This place should never be traveled without groups like BNHS. 

I thought Mumbai had only three types of birds and that is pigeons, sparrows and crows. But Mumbai is surrounded with flamboyant flamingos and many others. Many types of birds do visit this city just as the whole world does and I have known less of the city as less as of places such as Sewri.